Rheinard targets repeat win at ETS Germany
Having made the perfect start to Season #9 of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series with the TQ and win in the Czech Republic, Marc Rheinard will be targeting a repeat performance as the championship travels to Germany this weekend (5-7 February). Attracting a record 440 plus entries, Round 2 takes place in Muelheim-Kaerlich where the Tamiya driver has enjoyed two key successes in the past 12-months. Last season the 4-time onroad World Champion ended a 5-year drought of ETS victories on carpet at the event and having claimed his first ever Euro Offroad Series win at the same venue just last weekend, the ETS’ most winning driver’s confidence couldn’t be higher. Racking up his 13th ETS win in Hrotovice, Rheinard’s biggest competition is again set to come from Yokomo in reigning champion Ronald Volker and Xray in both Bruno Coelho & 2014 Mulheim winner Alexander Hagberg.
The first time in 6 seasons that he will arrive at the second round not leading the championship, Volker is ready to resume control of the championship and get his quest for a sixth consecutive title on target. Finishing second to Rheinard at Round 1 back in December, winning the opening A-Main with a great last lap pass on his arch rival, Volker believes having kicked off 2016 with a dominant victory at the DHI Cup that they have found what they lacked. Three years since Yokomo has won the important German round, Volker’s team-mates Yannick Prumper, who has been a podium finisher at the event the last three years, and Meen Vejrak will also be aiming to be in the mix to give the champion manufacturer it’s first win of their 2015/2016 campaign.
Having turned around his 2014 ETS debut performance at Hrotovice, when he just scrapped into the A-Main, to being in contention on his second attempt, Coelho is determined to add a first carpet win to his increasingly impressive CV. Winner of the closing two rounds of last season’s championship on asphalt, the Portuguese star took over the lead of the EOS title race with his second 4WD win of the season in Muelheim last weekend, the location a good proving ground for Xray. Hagberg was dominant 2-years ago topping all four qualifiers and wrapping up the win in A2. The Swede hasn’t won an ETS encounter since but coming into the event fresh from victory at the Snowbirds in the US that could be about to change.
With travel restrictions forcing him to miss the season opener, reigning World Champion Naoto Matsukura returns for Round 2. The Japanese driver’s first visit to the venue, it will also be his first ETS carpet outing with Tamiya and he would very much like to mark the occasion with a first win of the championship, his previous outings not even netting him a podium finish. With the event last year marking his final outing with Kyosho, TRF team-mate Christopher Krapp will be hoping for a better Round 2 having missed out on the A-Main at the season opener. A race where he has been on the podium, the popular former ETS race winner would like to mark his first full season with Tamiya with a strong showing.
One driver who could provide a surprise this weekend is Viljami Kutvonen. While the Awesomatix lead driver made the A-Main in Czech, the Finn was disappointed with his 10th place finish. The only one to challenge Volker at the DHI Cup, he is out to make amends and show the true potential of the new belt drive A800. Kutvonen’s former Awesomatix team-mate Freddy Sudhoff will lead the HB charge this weekend. The German who had a character building first round will be joined by team-mate JJ Wang, the American/Chinese driver making his ETS carpet debut.
In the Xray Pro Stock and Serpent Formula class it is the same driver that the combined 249 entries of the two classes will be out to beat. Double Top Qualifier and race winner at Round 1, the reigning Formula Champion Jan Ratheisky fresh from success at the Snowbirds will get the opportunity to race against one of the greatest legends of the sport. Coming out of retirement for the event, 14 time World Champion Masami Hirosaka will make his ETS debut when he races in Formula at the controls of a Yokomo YR-10. In Pro Stock, Ratheisky’s main challenge will come from his Xray team-mate & reigning champion Marek Cerny. The Czech driver has been Top Qualifier and race winner in Germany for the past 2-years.
